CUBUK: Turkey's agriculture sector, a key pillar of the domestic economy, is increasingly feeling the pinch in a troubling development for the ruling party that is counting on farmers' support in this weekend's legislative elections.
On a cattle farm in the district of Cubuk outside Ankara, Ozkan Ilhan surveys his 500 cows with pride but declares that the future of the sector is in danger under the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
"Our economy is not going well at all. The AKP is not coping, it is carnage. If that continues it will be the end of the agricultural sector in our country." he says.
"We are obliged to import agricultural products from abroad."
Such attitudes are bad news for the AKP which has smashed the opposition in Turkey's last three parliamentary elections and is seeking a two-thirds majority this time so it can make changes to the constitution.
Opinion polls have suggested support for the AKP may be on the wane and it could poll close to 40 percent, compared with the 50 percent it took in the 2011 elections.
Traditionally conservative, Turkish farmers helped the AKP come to power almost 13 years ago and their support has helped the Islamic-rooted party to mainatain its grip ever since.
But now with growth dipping under three percent and unemployment on the rise, the AKP is finding its support eroding and farmers have been among the first to vent their frustration.
Farmers and agricultural workers complain of a lack of policies aimed at helping local producers as well as an increase in charges.
For the first time, the price of fuel oil, which is widely used in the agricultural sector, has been a major election theme with the opposition promising to push prices down to 1.5 lira ($0,56) per litre from 4 lira.
The head of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu told AFP that 2.7 million hectares of agricultural land have been allowed to go fallow under the AKP's rule.
"It's lamentable," he said.
Comments
Comments are closed.